vietnamdraft.csv

vietnamdraftadmin.csv

Description

In December 1969, the U.S. Selective Service System conducted a lottery to a determine draft order for eligible men in the upcoming year. The 366 days of the year (including February 29) were written on small pieces of paper. Each was placed in a plastic capsule, then the capsules were hand-mixed in a shoebox and dumped in a glass jar. Capsules were pulled out one at a time. The first number chosen was 258 (September 14). Anyone born on that day in 1944 through 1950 was assigned lottery number 1. The first 195 birthdates drawn were later called to serve in the order they were drawn. Some people asserted that the numbers were not randomly distributed through the year, in particular when you compared the first half and second half of the year.

Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first draft number. Image is public domain.

Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first draft number. Image is public domain.

Variables

Observations: 2,562
Variables: 7
$ month       <dbl> 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1…
$ day         <dbl> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1…
$ birthyear   <chr> "1944-1950", "1944-1950", "1944-1950", "1944-1950", …
$ drawyear    <dbl> 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969, 1969…
$ draftyear   <dbl> 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970, 1970…
$ halfyear    <chr> "first", "first", "first", "first", "first", "first"…
$ draftnumber <dbl> 305, 159, 251, 215, 101, 224, 306, 199, 194, 325, 32…
# A tibble: 6 x 7
  month   day birthyear drawyear draftyear halfyear draftnumber
  <dbl> <dbl> <chr>        <dbl>     <dbl> <chr>          <dbl>
1     1     1 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            305
2     1     2 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            159
3     1     3 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            251
4     1     4 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            215
5     1     5 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            101
6     1     6 1944-1950     1969      1970 first            224

Variables

Observations: 7
Variables: 4
$ draftyear <dbl> 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
$ drawdate  <chr> "December 1, 1969", "July 1, 1970", "August 5, 1971", …
$ birthyear <chr> "1944-1950", "1951", "1952", "1953", "1954", "1955", "…
$ maxcalled <dbl> 195, 125, 95, NA, NA, NA, NA
# A tibble: 6 x 4
  draftyear drawdate         birthyear maxcalled
      <dbl> <chr>            <chr>         <dbl>
1      1970 December 1, 1969 1944-1950       195
2      1971 July 1, 1970     1951            125
3      1972 August 5, 1971   1952             95
4      1973 February 2, 1972 1953             NA
5      1974 March 8, 1973    1954             NA
6      1975 March 20, 1974   1955             NA

References

Video: CBS News Lottery Draft -1969

Selective Service: The Vietnam Lotteries

Live from Washington, It’s Lottery Night 1969!

Would your draft number have been called?

Vietnam Draft Lottery Data